Republicans make bid for control of Connecticut Senate

Jordan Fenster

Published
12:00 am EDT, Tuesday, October 16, 2012

With Andrew Roraback leaving the state Senate after a decade representing the Northwest corner, the fight to keep his district in Republican hands -- and for the GOP theoretically to take control of the state Senate -- may come down to geography.

Democrat Bill Riiska, of Winsted, said his family has a name in the Northwest corner. But the district goes all the way down to New Milford, and Riiska's opponent, current state Rep. Clark Chapin, is a known entity down south.

"Clark Chapin's family has a big name in New Milford," Riiska said.

Riiska is currently fighting his second uphill battle for a seat in the General Assembly. In 2008, when then-Rep. George Wilber resigned with just three weeks to go to the election, the 63rd House District was left without a Democratic candidate.

So Riiska decided to run. He lost, though he made it onto the ballot as a write-in candidate with only a few weeks to obtain the requisite number of signatures.

This year, he's trying his hand at a state Senate race: The 30th district being vacated by Republican Andrew Roraback, and again he faces a major challenge, but for a different reason.

State Rep. Clark Chapin, R-New Milford, is offering Republicans the hope of keeping 30th District in Republican hands.

"My issue is the sprawling nature of the district," Riiska said. "My opponent is from the Southern portion of the district, where most of the population is. Population concentrations make it more difficult than they make his job."

The 30th District is one of a few being targeted by Republicans in an attempt to gain a majority in the state Senate. This year there are four open Senate seats, three of which are currently held by Democrats: Edith Prague's 19th District in Columbia, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon and Ledyard; Ed Gomes' seat in Bridgeport (Gomes lost to Andres Ayala Jr. in a primary held earlier this year); and the seat held by outgoing Sen. Sen. Eileen Daily in Portland, Clinton, Old Saybrook and environs.

Republicans hold 14 seats in the state Senate, so even if they picked up all those open, currently Democratic seats, they would still have to maintain what they have and pick up at least two more if they want to get a majority of 19 and regain control of the Senate.

A source familiar with Republican state Senate races said there are actually seven targeted seats this year, two of which are highly contested attempts to maintain incumbency.

The 31st State Senate District, running from Harwinton through Thomaston, down to Waterbury and over to Bristol, is currently held by Republican Jason Welch. He faces union representative, building tradesman Dave Roche.

Len Suzio, whose district covers Meriden and parts of Cheshire and Middletown, is waging what is considered the toughest fight in Connecticut. He's a freshman, like Welch, but had even less time in the general assembly than his colleagues -- Suzio "parachuted in" while the 2011-2012 legislative was already ongoing, after the resignation of Tom Gaffey over corruption charges forced a special election.

He's also a Republican in a district considered to be one of the most Democratic in the state.

"I'm in an overwhelmingly Democratic district," he said. "They could run Mickey Mouse and it would be a serious challenge."